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Description

Western Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الغربية; transliterated: as-Ṣaḥrā' al-Gharbīyah; Spanish: Sahara Occidental) is a territory of North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria in the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. Its surface area amounts to 266,000 km2. It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly consisting of desert flatlands. The largest city is El Aaiún (Laâyoune), which is home to over half of the population of the territory, the whole estimated at just over 500,000.